Andrew's New Do

One of my favorite things about Andrew's appearance in his first year has been his beautiful, blonde curls.  He is the first of my children to have any curls in his hair and I have loved watching them form and twirling them between my fingers while I nursed him.  Because of this, I let his hair get much longer than I let the other boys hair get before giving him his first haircut.  I held onto those tender curls like they were pure gold.  But, lately I've noticed that the curls are getting too heavy to hold unless they're wet and his hair looks a bit unkempt all the time.

Instead of cute, his hair now makes him look sloppy most of the time. 

And so, I decided to just keep him in a hat.

Although he likes hats, it didn't solve the problem of him looking disheveled.

It was time for the dreaded "H" word.  I prepared a seat in front of the mirror to keep Drew entertained.

Strapped my precious angel in to keep him safe.

Got one last picture of those amazing curls.

Or two last pictures.

Then came the first cut.  I think I almost cried.  Okay, I did just a little bit.

When I was done, the curls were gone, and my baby was a toddler.  ::sigh:: 

He looks cute still, but I confess that I really miss the curls.

But, as my mother pointed out, hair grows, and soon, he'll have curls again!

Mini Post Monday

I figured I better be prompt with this week's Mini-Post Monday so that I don't get chastised again! :) (Sorry, Jo! I had to put that in there!)

• I am eating one of my left-over salted chocolate truffles I gave to my friends for Christmas while I type this.  Man, are they good.
• My family takes "hide-and-go-seek" very seriously.  No, really.  Check it out.

Jerry climbed in an empty cabinet and the first one to find him was actually Andrew.  The funny thing was that Andrew thought it was so great that Daddy was in the cabinet, Daddy had to stay there for quite a while while Andrew closed the doors, opened them up, and laughed!

This hiding spot of Ethan's doesn't look too impressive until you see the large picture...

Ethan climbed up in this cubby hole intended for a TV in this exercise/game room!
• We had a white Christmas this year!!!  Now, for those of you who live in places that get snow often, you might not think this worthy of posting.  However, for the DFW area, it was the first white Christmas in 83 years.  It is amazing to me that very few people living in our area were alive to remember the last time it happened. Our kids were thrilled, to say the least.

Our yard, covered in snow.  For Texas, this is a full blanket of snow!

Isn't it impressive??  Too bad we didn't have enough snow in TX for this one.  Jerry and the boys made it in Ohio the week before our white Christmas!
• Not every part of a white Christmas is good.  A dear family in my church had a car accident on Christmas Eve when their car hit a patch of black ice and went into oncoming traffic.  The husband and the wife's mother were killed on impact, and the dear wife, Pat, died later in surgery.  Pat made my wedding cake.  Pat has also been my Bible Study leader since June.  Every Sunday, I have gone to her house for a few hours and studied God's Word with her and a few others.  God used Pat to show me some great freedom that he had waiting for me, but I hadn't yet found.  I will miss Pat greatly. 
• Have you ever heard of the Manhattan Declaration?  My pastor brought this to our attention in church yesterday.  He said that in the last conversation he had with Pat's husband, he was told of this declaration, and thought it was important enough to share with the entire congregation.  I have been thinking for a while that I am not involved enough in politics.  I know that I don't agree with much of what is going on in Washington, and I vote every time I have an opportunity, but I need to be more informed and involved.  I think that I am going to start by signing this document after Jerry reads it and we have a chance to talk about it.
• Ever wonder what the boys thought of their dad getting his Master's degree last week?  Just look at how excited they were for him.

Aaron was practically bursting at the seams!

Ethan could hardly contain his enthusiasm!
• Andrew, on the other hand was happy as a lark as long as he could put water on his rubber ducky.  Needless to say, we left a bit of a wet spot on the table when we left!

In addition to the large water spot, I'm pretty sure there was an entire meal's worth of crumbs...
• Look, Mom!  I'm a Texas Longhorn!  (Should someone tell him that when you are wearing an Ohio State jumpsuit, you shouldn't pretend to be a Texas Longhorn?)

Who needs Christmas presents when you have a plastic hanger?
• Finally, for those of you who watch commercials regularly, perhaps you've seen this commercial from the last Superbowl.  I don't watch live TV, preferring to record the shows I like on my DVR and forward through the commercials instead, so I just saw this commercial yesterday.  I laughed so hard I had to look it up on YouTube right away to see it again.  Enjoy!
  

MBA

I have been chastisd for not having a Mini-Post Monday this week, so I feel I should post something.  I thought about doing a Mini-Post this week, but vacation-induced lounging around won over, and now it is no longer Monday, so I guess it'll just have to wait for next week.  But, never fear!  I won't leave you with no post!  Instead, I'll tell you all about Jerry's graduation!

(The whole family just after the graduation ceremony.  The boys were so glad it was over - they were bored!)

(Jerry's hood - tan brown on the outside for business, purple and gold inside for Taylor University.)

The reason we went to Ohio the week before Christmas this year, and not for Christmas week is that Jerry graduated with his MBA from Taylor University last week.  Jerry and I both did our undergraduate studies at Taylor, and we love the school.  When they started an MBA program, Jerry was very excited.  He has always wanted to get his MBA, and things finally worked out for him to do this.  He worked very hard, made sacrifices with his time, and graduated with a 4.0!  At his graduation, one of his professors said he was the best student he had ever taught!  Now, I am not surprised by this, but it sure was great to hear it! 

(Jerry and his parents.)

Anyway, we flew up to Dayton, Ohio (where we used to live) and drove to Jerry's parent's house.  They live just one hour from where the graduation took place in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  We got to spend some great time with Jerry's parents, celebrate and early Christmas, watch Jerry's accomplishment, and play in the snow.  While at the in-law's, I did the cooking so we could stay on our allergy-friendly diet.  It actually worked out really well.  I planned a menu in advance, sent Jerry's parents a grocery list with the things I thought they could find, and brought the rest with me.  I pre-measured all my baked goods into baggies so all I had to do was add the wet ingredients every time I made something.  It was a wonderful system.  I think I am actually going to do this once a week at home, too.  It saved so much time!

(My baking mix bags all ready to go.  Please ignore the other miscellaneous stuff on the counter behind the bags.)

So that is my excuse for not having a post on Monday.  Is it a good one?

Monday...

...it's Monday...where is the mini post?  I think that's why my day has been out of sync: no Mini-Post Monday.  I'm going to cry now.  Don't worry about me.

The Tale of Two Burgers

See that little baby over there on the right?  In case you're not one of the three to seven people that regularly read this blog, that's my baby girl Anna.  Anna's middle name is Lyn.  Anna Lyn.  Isn't that a lovely name?  Oh and please ignore that crazy look on Ella's face.  You can tell which one is Ella because of the crazy look on her face.  Okay, back to Anna.  Anna got her middle name from my godmother, Johanna's mommy, Lyn.  See how it works like that?  Neat, eh?  Last week Lyn told "us" on Facebook that she was going Christmas shopping and should she pick up anything up for anyone.  So I made a couple of jokes to her about how she should pick me up a hamburger while she was out.  Which is really funny when you know that I live in Florida and she lives in Texas.  It's a little hard to pick someone up a hamburger when you live 1000 miles apart.  Well anyway, I got a card in the mail approximately 1.5 days ago.  It was a lovely card from Lyn and contained a hamburger.  Or rather a gift card to McDonald's where I could pick up a hamburger.  Lyn is witty, funny and generous.  Now we all know where Johanna got her incredibly honed sense of humor from.  So here we all are mounted up in our trusty Pontiac Montana.

Look McDonalds!!  And Del's head.

Happy Meals all around with Avatar toys...because Avatar is such a kid-friendly movie you know.

Del knows how to hook a pregnant lady up with some serious hamburger goodness.  He got a Big Mac, too but I went with the burger with bacon on it, because bacon makes everyting better.  Except for coffee.  And chocolate.

See, yummy!!!!!

And look, I SHARED!!

And I got a dessert, too.  The kids got ice cream cones but I didn't get any pictures of that because the destruction that ensued was not family-blog friendly.

Thank you, Lyn.  You know how to make me chuckle and blush and feel loved right good.  And the burger was really tasty.

Mark 9:37

"Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."

Amen.

Mini Post Monday

• It has taken me a while to get into the Christmas spirit this year, but it is slowly creeping up on me.  I guess putting clues to where a treat is hidden in the advent house daily has been getting me in the mood.  However, the thought of wrapping all the gifts I've collected almost kills the joy for me.

• I did finish the Christmas treat boxes I planned with the Hot Chocolate Pods and Truffles.  I even added spiced nuts.  Everything turned out really yummy!

• I really dislike cleaning showers.  If you were to do a random shower inspection, I'd fail 99 times out of 100. But I did clean my shower this morning.  I feel very accomplished.  Anyway, if you were planning to do a surprise shower inspection, today would be a good day, okay?

• Jerry graduates next week!  Woo-Hoo!  Go Jerry!  My husband has an MBA now.

• I am enjoying hearing Christmas music this year.  Most years, I'm tired of hearing it by now.  Isn't that sad?

• Packing for a trip with allergies is a lot of work.  I'm putting together baggies with all the dry ingredients for our baked goods so I don't have to try to find obscure things like amaranth flour in a small town.  So much planning ahead!

• I am so jazzed that the library called today to tell me that the two books I put on hold are available for me to pick up.  It's the little things in life that really float my boat!

Redefining Pie Crust

Every year I make Jerry apple pie for his birthday - it is our family tradition.  Jerry loves apple pie more than any other desert there is, and I didn't want to have to let this tradition fall by the wayside because of allergies.  Jerry cannot have wheat at all, and he has to rotate soy (shortening), both of which seem to be essential for a good pie crust.  But then I found this blog post.  I thought the addition of cinnamon to the pie crust sounded good for an apple pie, and although I have not been very successful with rice flour products turning out well, I decided that for Jerry, I'd give it a try.  I'm really glad I did, because it made an excellent apple pie that the whole family enjoyed! 

(sifting together all the dry ingredients - doesn't the cinnamon look yummy?)

(cutting in the butter - how can you go wrong with butter?)

One big difference from traditional pie crust is that you have to let it refrigerate overnight before you use it.  It is also a bit thicker than a traditional crust, but other than that, I think most people wouldn't think anything of it if I served it up to them!

(ready to refrigerate overnight)

I know that most people reading this blog don't need to make allergen friendly foods, but I wanted to post this anyway for a couple reasons:

• You should try adding cinnamon to the crust of your pie sometime - it's really yummy!
• I am proud of the way my allergy-friendly cooking has improved to the point that I make things that actually taste good!
• You never know when you'll need to make something for a person with allergies or other health problems, and now you'll have a source! :)

Mmmmm....hot apple pie!  Who has the ice cream?

Mini Post Monday

• Did you know that Amazon is giving away free Christmas music this month? Check here every day for a new song to download. However, beware of Dec. 4! Explicit lyrics in Christmas music is jut not my style...
• I found Andrew in the hamper this morning with two pairs of Jerry's underwear hanging around his neck and my pj pants on his head. Yeah, it's a good thing Andrew didn't come with a twin. There just isn't enough trouble in our house for two of him.

Andrew with his two current favorite things: toothbrush and singing snowman.
• The bathroom remodel is going along swimmingly. The old tub/shower enclosure is cut away, a new tub is installed, the tile is demolished, the toilet is out, the sink/counter top is out, all the cabinet doors removed (to be painted), and the one wall that is going to be tiled has been removed and the sheetrock replaced with cement board for tiling! Guess how much of that work I personally have done? :)

This is what it looks like behind/under a bathtub/shower enclosure!
• We found a place that lets you design your own tile mixture! We fell in love with glass tile sheets, but all the ones we found in stores are either rather plain or rather expensive. Jerry found Modwalls and we started playing around with color. Here is the link for the custom blend generator. It is so much fun to play with!  Below is the custom blend of colors we are going to order for our bathroom.  This tile will go on one wall as an accent.

• Aaron has become an avid reader! We are heading out to the library in a few minutes and he will check out 15 or so chapter books. Those will all be read by next Monday's trip to the library! A boy after my own heart!
• Andrew is starting to show signs of more serious food allergy. :( He is red around the mouth after meals quite often, his whole body is covered with spots of eczema, his diapers are not so nice, and he is rather fussy. Sigh. I guess I need to limit what he consumes now, too. I don't think we can get any actual testing done until his is two, but I plan to ask the allergist when we are there next. 
• Sorry about the lack of pictures. I haven't downloaded any all week...maybe I'll get to it later today and add them in!

Dreams Can Come True...

...it can happen to you...

Guess what greeted me at the door when the doorbell rang recently? Do you see the label on the box?

Do you see the shiny red metal? 

Are you drooling yet?  I am.  Unashamedly.  It isn't pretty on me, but I'm okay with that.  Check out my brand-new, Vita-Mix Super 5200 in all its glory!

This baby rocks!  It has both wet and dry canisters, so I can basically make everything short of pure gold come out of this puppy!  I have made all sorts of flours in the dry canister and it works great!  I have also used the wet canister to chop veggies for soup and blend almond butter. I plan to never chop veggies for soup again.  I am not kidding when I tell you that I put a quartered onion in this thing and 4 seconds later had diced onion.  The carrot and celery took about 3 seconds.  I accidentally let it run for close to 5 and so my pieces were super tiny!  I cannot wait to really give it a work out.  Do you know what the coolest thing about it is?  To clean it, you just fill it with water and a drop of soap and let it run for 30 seconds.  It runs so fast that it heats the water and cleans the entire inside like a dishwasher!  Then you just let it dry and it is good to go again!

I paid $20 extra to get it in red, which is crazy!  I think that when you are paying as much as you have to for one of these, they should throw in red, a 20 lb. turkey, and stock options for free, but hey?  Who am I to complain?  Now it matches the rest of my kitchen appliances!